finding home in your arms
by AlwaysPadfoot
Summary: SoulmateAU. Daphne never thought her soulmark would bring such horror before it turned into hope. / For Shay


**AN:** Prompts will be displayed at the bottom to avoid them potentially giving away things.

* * *

 **finding home in your arms**

 **AlwaysPadfoot**

* * *

"It wasn't supposed to be like this."

Daphne could barely breathe as the words passed her lips. She was gripping the edge of the sink, her face as white as the porcelain beneath her fingers, staring at the name on her collarbone.

If it hadn't been excruciatingly painful perhaps she wouldn't have noticed the delicate script now etched into her skin for eternity. Her exhausted trek to the bathroom in the middle of the night was possibly a stroke of good luck. If any of her fellow Slytherins had seen that name under the thin strap of her pyjama top—

She couldn't bear to imagine.

Her eyes were fixated. Soulmates weren't supposed to cause so much inner turmoil; soulmates weren't supposed to be a member of the same sex. This didn't make sense. Daphne reached up, touching her fingers to the name of her soulmate. The skin around it was hot; the name raised as she ran her thumb across it.

Her mind was racing as a million problems cropped up, but no solutions.

Daphne finally looked down into the sink, away from the name on her collarbone. She found herself staring at the droplets of water shimmering as they ran down the curve of the sink. For a long moment, she lost herself, her mind blank with fear before a question sprung to mind.

How was she going to deal with this?

 **oOo**

 _...if you have gained a soulmark you must write to me immediately, Daphne. If he is not a pureblood, we must find you a marriage as soon as possible before someone finds out…_

The letter from her Granddad later that morning was not making Daphne feel any better about what she was going to do about her soulmate issue. Barely able to eat anything, she sat alone, desperately trying to ignore Pansy Parkinson's endless chatter about WItch Weekly's pullout section on autumnal fashion. Tracey kept trying to make conversation across the table, but Daphne was having none of it.

"Daphne, you're acting like someone's died," Tracey hissed as they left the Great Hall a short while later. "It's your birthday — it's supposed to get an enjoyable day. What's going on?"

"It's nothing," Daphne responded.

"Liar."

Daphne found the topic ineffable. Tracey had got her soulmark over a year ago when her future husband-to-be had got his. Neither of them recognised the name — which was Italian in origin. It wasn't fair, Daphne thought now. Tracey had landed herself an Italian hunk and Daphne, Daphne had landed… Daphne had landed a girl she'd only just spoken to for the first time back in September.

"It's really nothing. Just my grandfather being the ultimate patriarch: He's talking about marriage."

Daphne rolled her eyes and waved a marginally less suspicious Tracey off as they split to go to their separate classes.

She felt more alone than ever.

 **oOo**

Out in the grounds alone, Daphne was trying her best to figure out what she should do. She knew, of course, that she couldn't tell her grandfather there was a girl's name branded against her skin.

She pulled her robes tighter around herself. Partially because it shielded her from the cool breeze, and partially because she felt like people could suddenly see her soulmark through her clothes. It was ridiculous. Firmly telling herself to calm down, Daphne continued on her walk through the grounds.

Perhaps she could pretend it hadn't happened. After all, not everyone got a soulmark. She didn't really understand how it worked; she wasn't sure anyone did.

"Hey, Daphne!"

Her blood ran cold at the sound of a familiar voice calling to her. Turning slowly, her gaze found that of her soulmates. The Hufflepuff was smiling and waving her over from where she sat on the grass embankment.

Daphne should have pretended she hadn't heard her.

She wasn't ready for this conversation.

Swallowing her fear, Daphne forced herself to smile the best she could as she approached the girl with whom she shared half of her N.E.W.T classes.

Susan Bones.

 **oOo**

"I'm not so sure about this."

"Just trust me." Susan touched her hand as they climbed to the loft of the Owlery. "He won't find out, Daph."

Clutched in Daphne's wand bearing hand was a letter to her Grandfather, stating that she had received no soulmark. It was a lie — a risky one. That being said, Daphne prided herself on her ability to lie. And somehow, when she looked into the blue-green of Susan's eyes, she felt calm, as though they could take on the world together.

They'd written the letter together. Daphne had scrawled away and Susan had dictated eloquent sentences as she'd weaved together a chain of daisies and buttercups.

Daphne's panic had mostly eased when Susan had held one of the buttercups under her chin and claimed that she liked butter too. She'd laughed and nudged away her hand in an all too brief moment of peace.

Then it was back to pulling off the biggest lie she'd ever told.

Susan assured her it would be okay.

Daphne believed her.

 **oOo**

Neither Daphne nor Susan were prepared for the shitstorm that hit them come December. Between the unexpected attack in Hogsmeade on one of the seventh year Gryffindor's and Hannah, Susan's best friend, seemingly disappeared off the face of the earth, neither girl was handling things well. Both of them had lost House points; both of them had landed themselves in detention multiple times — sixth year was not going well at all.

Especially not now that they'd had their first proper fight.

Daphne found herself sitting alone in one of the Quidditch stands, crying. She felt pathetic for letting the argument affect her so much. It was a stupid argument anyway; she could have fixed it easily, but instead, she'd stormed off. Now they were both upset.

She'd missed curfew according to her watch. The sky was pitch black and Daphne could barely see the outline of the other Quidditch stands it was so dark. She wasn't particularly warm either. The wind was hitting her face-on. And yet she remained sat with her arms wrapped around her, hoping to come up with some resolution to the argument between her and Susan.

The stand creaked enough beneath her in the strong winds to make her feel uncomfortable. Heaving a sigh, Daphne decided she should return to the castle before she caught a cold just sitting here.

She was about to stand up when someone cleared their throat behind her. Daphne nearly jumped out of her skin as she twisted in her seat. It took a moment for her eyes to focus on the figure stood behind her, but when they did, Daphne's face softened.

"Can I sit with you?" Susan asked, her voice all croaky.

"Yeah, of course," Daphne responded.

Susan dropped onto the bench beside her and took a blanket out from underneath her robes.

"Want to share?"

Daphne just nodded and let Susan throw the orange blanket around their shoulders. They both pulled it around them, grateful for the warmth and the shelter from the wind. For a long moment, they both sat there in silence listening to the wind whistle through the air and the wooden stand whine and groan under their feet. It was quite atmospheric — in a creepy way.

"I'm sorry." They both spoke in unison and then turned simultaneously to look at one another in surprise too. "Weird."

They both laughed — a comical moment for the first time in weeks. Daphne sighed afterwards, the smile slipping from her face faster than she would have liked.

"I really am sorry," she confessed. "It was a stupid argument; I can't believe we fought over homework. Merlin, that's sad."

"In the interest of being honest, I have been in an awful mood," Susan responded. "I've been biting everyone's head off. Apparently, I'm more irritable than Zach now."

"I find that hard to believe." The very idea that Susan could be more irritable than Zacharias Smith was laughable in Daphne's opinion. "Truce?"

Susan smiled. "Truce."

 **oOo**

"Fuck this year," Susan muttered as she leant against the train window.

Daphne couldn't help but agree. People dying, people disappearing, death eaters storming the castle — this year had been absolute shit. The only good thing that had happened was that Susan and she had found one another — that they were soulmates. And now? Now she had to get through the whole summer at home without her. The very thought made her feel sick.

"I don't want to go home," Daphne whispered. Susan looked across at her with what could only be described as pity in her eyes. Looking away through the glass, Daphne sighed. "Don't look at me like that."

"Like what?"

"Like you feel bad for me."

Susan shifted uncomfortably and sat up. Daphne could feel her soulmate's gaze on her and she did her best to ignore it. Then, suddenly, Susan made a noise like she'd had a Eureka moment. Daphne's eyes snapped up to see Susan with a grin set wide on her face.

"What?" she asked curiously.

"I don't want to be alone," she said as though it was obvious. "I don't want to be alone, and you don't want to go home. We're both of age and my Aunt left me everything. Come home with me."

Daphne scoffed. "Very funny."

"It's not a joke," Susan said. "I love you, Daphne Greengrass. Move in with me."

Daphne stared at her, her eyes wide. A million thoughts rushed through her head, so fast that she could barely pick them out in her mind. So many things could go wrong, and yet, she was considering it. She loved Susan. Really not wanting to go home was the thing that was causing her anxiety beyond belief. If she didn't go home, she could lose a lot. If she did, she stood to lose a lot more — Susan herself. The redhead was watching her with eyes full of hope and Daphne inhaled deeply.

"Okay," she said.

"Really?" Susan asked, her eyes lighting up.

"Really," Daphne confirmed. "I love you, Susan."

Susan eclipsed Daphne in a tight hug and the Slytherin felt her heart swell. So she wasn't going home, back to the place that would loathe the very thing that made her feel so happy. Home shouldn't feel like a place she feared — a place she couldn't find comfort and acceptance.

Home was Susan.

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 **Comps and Prompts**

 **Drabble Game:** For Shay [Daphne/Susan — Trope: Soulmates]

 **HPHG, Round One:** (word) unexpected, (emotion) jealousy, (dialogue) "I'm not so sure about this." / "Just trust me.", (genre) HurtComfort, (AU) soulmates

 **Assignment 1: Mythology.** Task 2 - Horus: _Write a story that takes place partially during the day, and partially during the night_

 **IHC:** 409\. Word - Ineffable - (Unutterable, Inexpressible)

 **365:** 133\. First Line - "It wasn't supposed to be like this."

 **SC — Days of the Year —** July 17 2018 - World Snake Day: Write about your favourite Slytherin character.

 **SC — Colour Prompts** — blue-green

 **SC — Flowers —** Daisy - (scenario) Putting a buttercup under your chin to see if you like butter or not

 **SC — Shay's Musical Challenge** — 33. Hello, Dolly! - write about finding love

 **WC — Character Appreciation** — 9. (setting) Quidditch Pitch

 **WC — Disney Challenge** — T2. Isolation - Write about someone feeling Isolated.

 **WC — Book Club** — Moira: (sexuality) lesbian, (trait) independent, (colour) orange

 **WC — Showtime** — 8. Man Up - (emotion) joy

 **WC — Amber's Attic** — T2. Loved One's Name - Write about someone important to your main character.

 **WC — CYB** — C1. Susan Bones.

 **WC — Ami's Audio Admirations** — 1. The Going-Home Song - Write about someone at home.

 **WC — Sophie's Shelf** — Rare Pairs: Trio Era F/S — Daphne/Susan

 **WC — Em's Emporium** — 17. Gabby: Write Femslash.

 **WC — Bex's Bazaar** — PC7. Nellie the Elephant - Write about someone packing up their life and moving on.

 **WC — Film Festival** — 19. (action) speaking in sync

 **Word Count** — 1750


End file.
